'Smart' Set Top DVD Players.

[zeradul]

Ok, this is a multi-part question. I had a friend I knew three years ago who had what he claimed to be an absolute top of the line DVD player. And it was very good. It was able to recognize MPeg1 and MPeg2 on burned CD's, as well as MP3's and possibly even real media and Mac format .mov files. Divx (as far as the computer compression format) was in its infancy back then, and I do not know if his player was able to play them.

So here are my questions.

1.) Are there any DVD players on the market that are able to have their firmware upgraded to recognize new Divx (and other compression formats) AS new formats come out?

2.) Of the DVD players that exist that CAN recognize the basic PC formats, what is this specification called, so that I can tell if a given DVD player supports the formats simply by brining up its Specs...??

3.) Are there various levels of this specification, which signify what formats that the player is capable of?

4.) Are any of the models that are capable of this that are cheap? So that when I burn the family's home videos, my relatives can be sure to get a DVD player that recognizes the disks, without having to pay a fortune.

[drpeterbright]

zeradul I can't answer all of your question,but I can tell you that some of the cheapest dvd players recognize more formats than the expensive ones. My wife is Chinese and has a lot of vcd's (records about 45 minutes of video on a cd) that play well on the cheap APEX dvd players. No problem with it reading disks burned on any of my cd burners as well.

:hammer:

[zeradul]

I see... I did not expect to hear that... I spose in the worst case scenario, I can always get a DVD player locally, and take it back if it doesn't have the recognition I need.

But the question still remains, does anyone know if there is a standard to what compression formats are recognized by DVD players, and if there is a specification used to describe this ability?

[Maxpowers]

ok about the firmware i highly doupt it, best place i know of that will answer any/all of your questions is www.vcdhelp.com hope this helps has lists, tips u name it its there :thumb: